On the perception, adoption and implementation of design thinking in the IT industry

Abstract

In recent times, addressing the social aspects of IT products has become an important competitive factor on IT markets. IT development is forced to focus on more user-centeredness and the non-technical aspects of design problems. Against this background, design thinking has been discussed and applied as a new design paradigm for IT development. Basing on expert interviews and case study research, we examine in our research project what it means to put design thinking into operation in an IT context. We explain why design thinking is complementary to traditional IT design paradigms and what issues are involved in the subjects of perceiving, implementing and adopting design thinking in IT development.